Starting an Equine Rescue Center

[sketcher]

oy vey.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Whew. I read the post when it first came on, and my heart sank. There are so many fabulous groups who are struggling. We need to keep these going.

[CosMonster]

OP, my heart goes out to you. I'm sure it hurts reading these posts. Most of them are tactful, maybe some not so much, but really, most of them are true.

Let me tell you my experience. I'm also wanting to start a rescue in the US. There is a desperate need for it in my area. There is exactly 1 501(c)3 rescue in my area. 2 rescues, if you include the other reputable but not technically non-profit one. There are 4 low-end auctions where perfectly decent horses go to slaughter in Mexico every week. This is a very poverty-stricken, rural area (we're one of the poorest areas in one of the poorest states in the nation), and there are tons of horses as they are a way of life for many people. Unfortunately, there is usually not a lot of education or veterinary care involved. I can't blame the owners, they usually lack good educational opportunities and are without health care themselves, and have been raised in that culture. I believe many, even most of them do care for their animals, but you can't expect them to give their livestock something they can't give their kids.

I never thought of the Pepsi Refresh thing as an option, although I have heard of it, so kudos to you for that. But I do have a partner who makes about $100k a year and is willing to donate about a third of that to keep us going. I am a professional trainer and I will not "charge" rescue horses for training. I need to survive, but I'm very frugal (I'm a hippie that way ) and can live comfortably on about 20k a year, including supporting my personal horse habit. As long as I can make that, even if it's purely through outside horses, I'm fine.

So we have basically a mid-level full-time salary to support the rescue (let's say $35k), and a skilled professional trainer (if I do say so myself ) willing to donate her services more or less for free. Also, a facility (mine) with tons of room and no fee, as long as feed is paid for through the rescue for the horses in its care (since I rent it anyway and don't need the extra income, I'm willing to donate most of it). To add to that, I spent 2 years as a professional fundraiser for nonprofits, so I'm pretty sure we're good on that front.

Even with all that, we're waiting. We have not launched yet. I "rescue" (in quotes because I pick them up in dire straits but usually flip them pretty quickly for a lot more than I've put into them--2 months of decent feed and riding will do wonders for many of them) horses on my own, but it's hardly a rescue in the true sense of the word, although I hope to eventually get there. My potential rescue partner does something similar. But so far, we don't feel like we have enough to combine the operations and sustain it, although we are working towards it.

I guess the point of this whole story is that I think your idea is wonderful, but it seems like you've overlooked a lot. Do you have a plan to continue with the rescue when the Pepsi money runs out? Do you have a business plan? Because I see a lot of love in those pages, but not a lot of foresight. And foresight is key in rescues. The reason my rescue isn't fully in the works yet is because I know that we are not capable of handling many emergencies that may arise just yet. So we're building support in the community (making it clear we are not non-profit yet) and working towards it, but not a full-time rescue just yet.

The Pepsi money will buy you a property. What will you do afterwards?

I wouldn't vote for you based on your website. Although, I am not interested in this, so I probably won't vote for anyone else, either. But please, really work out and post a business plan (keep in mind, as a rescue you need to be pretty much 100% transparent to maintain your contributors' trust). Also, please get rid of the background music. That may be a pet peeve, but I was looking at this at a colleague's house due to my own untrustworthy satellite internet being out again, and I was a bit embarrassed to be looking at your site until I turned the speakers down. It may just be my opinion, but background music is pretty unprofessional.

I do really commend you for your goals. Please, though, make sure you have a viable plan before you take anyones' money.

edit: also, sorry, but I was re-reading your site and noticed the part about horses in excellent physical condition being sold from $2-10.00. At least in my area, $10 is about the minimum for horses in pretty damn terrible condition. Horses in moderate condition with nothing else going for them can go for $30-50, and good horses in tolerable condition (and I'd bet money my definition of that is much less than many COTHers) are still $100+. Not huge amounts, but the $2-10 thing makes me wonder how many rescues you've been to. Maybe you have numbers to back that up, but it is really something to think about if you're soliciting national donations. My interpretation of that is that you're artificially lowering the amounts horses are going for to make it seem more urgent or whatever, or that you haven't been to many sales. Things may be different in LA, but you need to back that up if you want to attract supporters from around the nation.

[AnnaCrew]

I also did the research how to register a non profit rescue facility and... Decided not to.

1) I do have my land, facilities and anything else going already. The First thing - Taxes. As a non profitable farm (hobby farm) we do pay minimum taxes - if I would register it officially, taxes on the land and facilities would grow impressively.

2)standard requirements. As far as I'm private owner and I do have less than 24 horses, I do not need manure management facilities - stack in pile and feed the roses . If I do register, I need serious concrete tanks. Costs - would be about 40 k. As a minimum.
Water. I have a nice water from the pond with a spring in - so water is clean and fresh there always, but - it is open water source. If I would register, I would need a deep drill pipeline - in my area it is 145 meters, so costs would be another 20k plus pipes, insulation and so on - so all in all another 40 k to build a tape-water system in stables.

3) feed costs. At present I can buy hay, grain and so on private - by cash only. As a registered facility I would need to buy via checkbook and via taxes so the feeding would cost me about 2X from current price. And I would need to get paid accountant to keep the paperwork.

And so on, and on, and on.... I counted, planned, put all things on scales and decided - NO< I will not register the official rescue - too expensive for MY POCKET as there are no guarantees that donations will flow in, but it is obvious that increased expenses will hit me on daily basic.

So, NO, it is very expensive thing.

Why do you do not want any existing rescues in your area? (I have no choice, we do not have any at all).

[elysian*fields*farm]

While I agree that there are horses in need, OTTB Fan, I would like to point out that there are already several public non-profit 501c horse rescue organizations and individuals operating in Louisiana and some are struggling to raise enough funds to keep operating in these difficult times.

I applaud you for your concern and desire to help animals in need, but I do think you need to do more planning and be realistic about how you will continue to operate your rescue once you have exhausted your grant money.

Also, I really don't think $150,000 is enough to purchase land for a facility that will handle 20-30 neglected horses at a time-- unless you plan to feed hay as well as feed year around -- and that's very expensive.

I run my own privately-funded horse refuge using a minimum of donated money and services--and I have the ability to care for only 10 horses. I already had some of the land and facilities, and the rest is "leased" in return for my keeping it up-- no lease money involved. My operation is a horse refuge-- that is the horses live here until they die. I am currently at capacity, and have had to refer horses in need to other rescue groups as I will not take in more horses than I can take care of myself. I have begun to offer horse and carriage rides on a very limited basis to pulbicize the need to offer retirement homes to old horses, and to help raise some funds to care for the ones here.

I wish you well, but urge you to think about scaling back to 10 about horses at a time max-- or better yet, why don't you try to help one of the established 501c non-profits here in Louisiana win a Pepsi Grant?

[spotmenow]

I applaud you for your concern and desire to help animals in need, but I do think you need to do more planning and be realistic about how you will continue to operate your rescue once you have exhausted your grant money.

Also, I really don't think $150,000 is enough to purchase land for a facility that will handle 20-30 neglected horses at a time-- unless you plan to feed hay as well as feed year around -- and that's very expensive.

THIS. $150,000 in this day and age in NOTHING when you talk about purchasing land and installing water/fencing (not even considering a barn) - to say nothing of the feed, medications, vet bills that neglected horses will run up quickly. Sorry, can't vote for this either-there are already too many "rescues" that need to be rescued because of lack of funds, usually started by well-intentioned animal-lovers who just don't plan far enough ahead

I agree with this post-try and help an existing rescue get the Pepsi grant...

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

And you don't need to be an actual physical rescue.

This is why we started Special Horses - I don't have the land, the facilities, the money, the expertise, the time to start a rescue. equineartworks has some land, but her interests also lie in equine assisted therapies, and she and I hope to help connect rescue groups with therapeutic facilities to help foster, train, rehome. Especially for older horses that may be limited in their under saddle capabilities (or not capable at all) - these horses can often be used for on the ground therapies. However you still need the knowledge and background to know how to make this happen, which eaw does.

We are a serendiptious meeting of individual strengths, and we have chosen to help smaller, struggling groups who can use our assistance in fundraising, websites, grant writing, making flyers, etc. This is a way that WE can help make a difference, by helping legitimate groups in need. We want to help these groups help themselves. And we realize that, when you are in the trenches, getting on the computer to network and fundraise - while so very important - is often a huge burden.

We have expanded our organization to establish the Emergency Rescue Fund - our goal is to have, in every state, a sling and emergency vet supplies to use in the case of a natural disaster or seizure, and available to legitimate 501(c)3 equine rescues and vets in that area. We have also expanded to help coordinate efforts when there IS a disaster, to be a central collecting area to coordinate hay and monetary donations. When there were floods in 2009 in Minnesota and North Dakota, we realized that, if we had been 501(c)3 then, we could have helped even more.

All the proceeds from any of our fundraisers go to support these efforts. We are truly non-profit! Our time (and our financial contributions) are volunteered because this is a way we can help make a difference.

Your heart is in the right place. But there are so many roads to Rome...we're just taking the scenic route!